Photo courtesy Passive Aggressive Notes
There was no need for resumes for this search, however they might as well come in handy.
It was sad wishing Sarah a bon voyage as she moved out of Highland Street to join her fiancee in North Carolina, not only was I saying farewell to a roommate and friend, it introduced a search for a new roommate during a time I was already busy with work, theatre, and life.
However Caroline and I managed to have an open house and met a lot of new people. This was certainly not the first time I’ve had to find a new roommate, however it was only the second time I organized a search.
I couldn’t help but feel like I was a judge on a reality show (and the prize is living with me! Not so shabby); or that I was like my all my HR friends and was interviewing people for a job (because maybe sometimes living with me is a chore!)
But the more I think of it, a lot of the good habits of a job search come in handy when you are searching for a roommate/looking for housing.
Control Your Online Identity
One of the first things you gotta know before you even search for a job is what happens when your name goes into Google. Your online reputation could harm you when looking for a job, and it could also harm you when trying to make a good impression with your tenants you are talking to. Run a Google search on your name and e-mail and see what comes up. Make sure your Facebook and other social networking sites have the appropriate privacy settings. I recommend this Lifehacker post that talks about controlling your online rep.
With the e-mails and names of all the people that visited our open house last night we were able to glean some additional information that we didn’t get from the short 15 minutes we would spend talking to someone. While most people did have their Facebook profiles set to private, we were able to snoop around the pages of a few public profiles to get a more complete picture of a certain person.
If you were an HR person, you want to know everything about a person you are going to put on your payroll, and in my case I would want to know as much as I can about a person that would be living under the same roof as me.
Now that being said, I’m not saying you have to be a ghost online. We were actually impressed by some people’s Linked-In profiles that further explained people’s professional history and educational backgrounds. For one person we easily found their online website that was designed to highlight their resume and sample writing- a tool obviously for job networking but also helped us as well. The key with your online presence is to shape it to paint the picture that you want out there.
Get To Know The Company
Interviewing is never a one-way street. While a job interview appears to be a test to see if a person is a good fit for the company, it’s also the interviewee’s chance to see if a company is good fit for him/her. In fact a good interview between residents and perspective new roommates shouldn’t be like an interview at all, but more like a casual conversation. It’s a chance to share interests and learn more about what makes a person tick. I found this past weekend that something that separated the final candidates from the rest was an interest in us and asked questions just as much as we did. You’d be surprised at how many people simply showed up and were silent except when answering questions. That’s not how you stick out in a job interview and that’s not how you stick out when looking for a roommate.
Be Proactive
We held an open house that didn’t require prior appointments to be made, however once I posted the ad on Craigslist, we got quite a few e-mails from people that wanted to introduce themselves and mention they would be visiting during the open house. While we also had walk-ins that showed up without any prior announcement, those that e-mailed before had a little bit of familiarity with us and those notes helped us remember who a specific person was among the big list of names we had at the end.
A polite follow-up action for job interviews that often goes undone in house hunting is the Thank-You note. When I held my first roommate search last November I remembered that Sarah and I were impressed that Caroline took the time to send a quick thank-you e-mail that reaffirmed her interest in the house and thanked us for the time to meet and talk with her. We don’t expect everyone to send a thank-you and it’s by no way a deal-breaker, but doing so sends the message that you are respectful and it’s an opportunity to express continued or increased interest, which goes a long way in a roommate search.
Be Careful About What You Say
In dating and job interviews, there are certain topics you always avoid, like politics and your previous love life. I won’t share any specific stories here but you don’t want to send the wrong message when you share with strangers your escapades with the ladies or start preaching your manifesto against the government.
Dress The Part
You wouldn’t show up to a job interview without taking a shower right? While I am not saying you need to wear a three-piece suit when meeting people about a room, you don’t want to leave the house with the residents talking about your distinct odor.
Right now the search continues but some interesting thoughts as we find the newest resident of Highland Street!
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